GROWING the same type of crop and vegetable throughout the year is a challenge for any farmer.

And to take on this challenge, a group of agriculture specialists from Taiwan has been working with a group of farmers from Sigatoka, equipping them with the right technical advice to grow the best quality of vegetables and crops during off-seasons.

Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) specialist Lee Chihcheng said the group had been advising farmers at Sigatoka's salad bowl for more than 15 years.

"It's really about ensuring that while seasonal crops and vegetables are being produced and supplied from the Sigatoka Valley, we also want to have the same quality and type of produce being produced during the off-seasons," he said.

"We have a number of techniques that we have implemented for the farmers to follow. For example, during the off-season, tomatoes are not produced that much but we have a technique which farmers can use that can also produce the same amount of tomatoes during the off-season."

He said the group wanted to host a demonstration field day for the public in Sigatoka to further increase interest in their work.

"So far, it has been very good and we have seen a lot of farmers benefit from this program."

Farmer Jeewan Singh said TTM's valuable expertise allowed for the positive growth of vegetable production in the Sigatoka Valley.